Link: Why Canadian TV Producers Don’t Want To Make A Downton Abbey

Why Canadian TV Producers Don’t Want To Make A Downton Abbey
“Why can’t Canadian TV make a Downton Abbey?” one guest asked me and everybody stopped eating to listen to my reply. I patiently explained that first of all Canadian TV simply hasn’t that kind of money these days to finance such an expensive undertaking.

How many TV adaptations of great Canadian novels have you seen on CBC or anywhere else ion the last few years?

Prior to becoming a television critic and partner at TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.

3 thoughts on “Link: Why Canadian TV Producers Don’t Want To Make A Downton Abbey”

We arguably did have a Downton Abbey. It was the 90s period drama Road to Avonlea, a Canadian story set in Canada with a large ensemble of great characters with great writing and great acting. It got great ratings on both sides of the border and it holds up rather well today unlike many shows which become corny with time. That being said, its been a couple decades since the show ended and Emily of New Moon failed to live up to its predecessor. I wish we could get something else none of the networks really seem to embrace the idea.

aw, there goes bawden spouting his paid-for american propaganda again.

toronto industry took in 1.3 billion last year, vancouver took in over 2 billion. the rules said enough of that was supposed to go to making 100 % canadian productions that canadians would pay to enjoy watching.

every year, none of it ever does.

so they claim we have no stories to tell, or none anybody wants to hear.

and stupid canadians lap it all up as gospel.

shit- just Canada’s History Magazine alone has over 400 years of riveting stories to do.

there’s no end to it, there’s just too many of them telling us the same B.S., , and to back it up they choose what little we do get to see is so bad it’s the same as claiming margaret atwood and emily carr and the group of seven are the best canada has ever ‘produced’ while keeping us all in the dark about the really world class stuff that has been and still is being done that most canadians never know about cause it’s in private collections, usually american, or hidden away in small rooms and back hallways of the museums in ottawa, or the NFB which recently closed most of it’s offices but that very few canadians have ever heard about anyways, or worse, rotting away in the leaking basements of 200 year old storage buildings that are falling apart.

I went to the Lightbox Archives centre downtown Toronto one time, they have a huge collection of stuff, and even teach classes in film history — almost totally nothing to be found there about CANADIAN film history.

Ever heard of Cory Trépanier ? Past few years he’s travelled all over Canada’s Arctic to paint huge totally stunning landscapes that are absolutely the best anyone has ever done. He’s a huge name now all over the world. You haven’t heard of him in Canada because – he’s Canadian, and his best works went to – Washington DC. Instead of boosting awareness of him by Canadian press, they write about an American black artist who slit his throat in NYC who used to do ‘art nouveau’ that looks like it was done by drunken monkeys stoned on wacky tabacky. –

go to any gov’t endorsed art gallery in canada, ottawa the only exception, and you’ll be very hard pressed to find anything by canadians, let alone worth the visit.